Widow 'elated' after High Court judge rules she can preserve her late husband's sperm

A widow who wants to preserve her late husband's sperm today won a High Court battle with the UK fertility regulator.

Physiotherapist Beth Warren, 28, from Birmingham, was said to be "elated" after a judge ruled in her favour during a trial in London.

Officials at the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) now have until mid-March to decide whether they want to take the case to the Court of Appeal, according to the ruling by Mrs Justice Hogg.

Mrs Warren told the BBC: "It's beyond words, I hadn't even anticipated that I would feel that happy about it.

"I hadn't let myself believe I would get that outcome because I knew it really could have gone either way."

Her lawyer described her as "elated" following the decision but "downhearted" about the possibility of an appeal.

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Mrs Warren says a limit imposed by the HFEA means that she has little over a year to conceive using sperm which her husband, Warren Brewer, a ski instructor who died of cancer two years ago aged 32, placed in storage.

HFEA officials say they sympathise with Mrs Warren, who uses her late husband's first name as her surname, but say Mr Brewer did not give written consent to his sperm being stored beyond April 2015.

Mrs Justice Hogg said the sperm could be stored until 2060 as she was satisfied that he would have done what was necessary had he been "given the information" and advised.

But she said the HFEA should have the chance to try to overturn her ruling in the appeal court because the case raised a "novel point".